History
MY TURN, Inc. was founded in 1984 by Barbara Duffy, a youth advocate and expert in youth workforce development, and Paul Protentis, a businessman who grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. Mr. Protentis credits his professional success to the direction and support he received during his formative years at Brockton High School. His experiences motivated him to find a way to give today’s young adults what he had the privilege to have in his youth.
MY TURN was founded on an unwavering belief that an engaged and energized adult can truly make a difference in a youth's life. In 1984, MY TURN instituted its School-to-Work program at Brockton High School to help young people not on track for college become better prepared for the world of work. In 1988, STEP was created to respond to a growing number of high school seniors who needed intensive guidance and instruction to gain acceptance into a four-year university or college. In 1999, the HERO program was established at Brockton High School to ensure that students with significant barriers to higher education were receiving the guidance and support needed to take college preparatory courses and apply for college admission and financial aid. In 1999, federal funding paved the way for MY TURN to develop a curriculum as well as an education and training model to serve young people who had dropped out of high school and were ill-prepared for the world of work.
Today, MY TURN operates its two main umbrella programs, In-School Youth (ISY) and Out-of-School Youth (OSY) at ten sites in seven cities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. More than 1,000 youth, ages 14 to 24 years, are served annually.